The Memorial of the Slovak National Uprising (SNP) in Nemecká

The Memorial of the Slovak National Uprising (SNP) in Nemecká

The old lime kiln situated between the Central Slovakia villages of Ráztoka and Nemecká has become the site of one of the most tragic events of modern Slovak history.

Since 2002, the Museum of the Slovak National Uprising has been managing the exhibition in Ráztocká Valley. In 2003, a new exhibition titled Repressions of Nazis and Hlinka Guard Emergency Divisions members in Slovakia in 1944-1945, was opened. The exhibition is dedicated to the repressions of the German Nazis and their domestic collaborators from the ranks of the Hlinka Guard Emergency Divisions (POHG) and the members of the German ethnic minority group.

The first part of the exhibition depicts the process of the repressions, the main actors and victims of the killings in Kremnička and Nemecká - the sites of the most repressive actions of extermination in the territory of Slovakia. It also depicts the development of events related to the suppression of the Slovak National Uprising and the subsequent occupation of the political and military centre of the Uprising - Banská Bystrica. Its closing section is dedicated to the post-war retributive justice system and depicts the trials of POHG members.

The second section of the exhibition documents in detail the repressions in Western, Central and Eastern Slovakia, as well as in the territory of southern Slovakia occupied by Horthy's Hungary. Part of the exhibition is dedicated to the repressive actions against the Roma population.

Among the three-dimensional exhibits, the most interesting are parts of the uniforms of members of the POHG, the German police and the Arrow Cross Party (Nyilaskeresztes párt - NKP) or personal items of victims of the reprisals, and items from the burnt houses of the villages of Kalište and Kľak.

Nemecká made a significant mark in Slovak history in January 1945, when the lime kiln became the site of mass executions of direct participants of the Slovak National Uprising, their family members, sympathizers of the Uprising and persons persecuted on the basis of their race. The lime kiln proved to be the most feasible option in terms of safely covering the traces, as the ashes of the victims and body parts were washed away by the waters of the Hron River. It is believed that up to 900 people were executed. The majority of the victims were Jews - over 450 individuals.

Following the project of architects A. Bélla, E. Stančík, M. Belluš and academic sculptors K. Patakyová and A. Vika, a monument symbolizing the furnace flame and a woman on her knees was erected next to the lime kiln to the victims of fascist repressions.